Seven Pounds Of Confusing Movie

By Amir Ali Said

Yesterday, I watched Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith, for the first time. The movie is told through the eyes of Ben Thomas (Will Smith), a very troubled man with a big secret. To understand this movie you have to know that Ben Thomas lost his wife in a car accident, while killing six others. So that makes the death toll, seven, hence the title.

Ever since the accident, Thomas is on a journey to find seven strangers he feels deserves his help. Whether it be through organs or just a warm heart. Along the way, Thomas runs into Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson) who has heart failure. Thomas tries to stay on the path but can't help but fall in love with Emily. Then, she's told that she only has about a month to live. Thomas has a decision to make, be with the woman he loves, and hope she finds a heart. Or does Thomas give her his heart?

Seven Pounds is a confusing movie. It gives mixed signals. If you watch the movie till the end, you will understand why. I give it one and half stars. It has an interesting story, that just didn't get to me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Seven Pounds, but instead give you the decision. But if I knew certain things about this movie, I probably wouldn't have watched it. Bottom line, Seven Pounds gets a, "I don't know." But then again, it can be a waste of time if your trying to watch a movie before you sleep. Caution, it may give you a headache!

"There's No Island!"

By Amir Ali Said

A couple days before the Winter Recess, my science class began watching The Island, a sci-fi movie directed by Michael Bay. But we only saw about one hour out of the whole movie. Plus, we saw it in forty minute segments, so it wasn't a great movie experience. So when I came home the day the break started, I asked my parents to get The Island. And yesterday, I received it and began watching immediately.

The story centers around two clones, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) who are best friends. This action packed sci-fi movie shows how two clones fight to find their "sponsors", the "real" humans. They both hope to get to The Island just like all the other thousands of people kept inside this "non-contaminated" facility. But Lincoln Six Echo soon discovers that this is all a lie. Then Jordan Two Delta wins a trip to The Island. As quickly as possible, Lincoln Six Echo finds his best friend and tells her to come with him. From that point on, they run for their lives, searching for their "sponsors."

I liked the movie. It was pretty cool. I wouldn't say it was four stars, maybe three. There were a couple things I thought were questionable. The storyline was executed and there's a lot of action. Plus you won't know what's going to happen in almost every scene. But the ending is questionable to me. Overall, you should check out The Island.

Law Abiding Citizen Review

Law Abiding Citizen is a must-not-see movie. It has two main holes. First, you have some sort of CIA Operative, Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). I'm not sure if Clyde is a geek, tinkerer, or a Special ops agent but he works from home and he's a family man.

One night Clyde is working on some sort of invention along with his daughter. Clyde comes to the door, surprise, two “door to door robbers” come in for a visit. Then they tie Clyde and his family up, except for his daughter who doesn't know what's going on. She's slaughtered first, and the parents are spared. However, Clyde's wife isn't so fortunate. Was this revenge? Or was this some plot against Clyde and his organization?

In either case, you would expect there to be a point to this robbery. WRONG! There is no point in Law Abiding Citizen. That's just one humongous hole in Law Abiding Citizen.

The second hole in Law Abiding Citizen comes when the man I just described, becomes some sort of monster who goes on a killing spree. NO! That would make no sense. However, in Law Abiding Citizen that's exactly what happens. Why would a man torn by his family's death begin to kill everybody in the "Justice system?” That storyline makes no sense. If he were to go on this killing spree, wouldn't he only kill the men who committed this heinous crime? Most likely that would happen, but let’s not forget this is Law Abiding Citizen.

Law Abiding Citizen was disappointing. I didn’t expect this movie to be bad. I thought Law Abiding Citizen was going to be a dope film about minds going head to head. A normal person, with a interesting background, versus an attorney who's principles are challenged because of the law. This is what Law Abiding Citizen was trying to achieve, however, the movie missed by a mile. I give Law Abiding Citizen 1 1/2 stars, and that's being generous. It has too many holes and leaves with a lot of questions. Believe me, if you go and see Law Abiding Citizen you will only get headaches, because you will find no purpose to this movie.

Carrie, Great/Scary Movie

This past Sunday I watched Carrie, the famous horror movie by Stephen King. What a great movie. Carrie has a scary storyline. Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is a story about a young, lonely, girl who's embarrassed miserably one night. But here's the catch, she's telekinetic and can do crazy things when she puts her mind to it. Carrie goes through high school alone and one incident only makes it worse, Carrie's first period. After this incident no one will befriend her and a group of girls make fun of her. When it comes time for prom, the movie goes into the final gear.

Carrie also has good acting. Carrie and her mother (Piper Laurie) were both lunatics. They lived in a dark house. The only lights came from candles around their religious area in the house. Also, Carrie wasn’t allowed to do anything. If Carrie didn't go to school, she would be in her house all day. Carrie almost didn’t get to go to prom. Her mother forbid Carrie from going because she believed Carrie would be embarrassed. Carrie disagreed and she went to prom. Overall between the acting and action, Carrie was a scary movie.

Carrie is such a scary movie it's not even funny. By the end, Carrie has you jumping out of your seat at every scene. Carrie was going crazy at the end. When my parents first told me about Carrie I didn't think it would be scary or creepy at all. I thought that Carrie was just going to be a sad movie, not scary. That may well be the first and last time I watch Carrie. That movie is not recommended for people who can’t deal with creepy and unusual horror. But if you can deal with it, you should see Carrie sooner or later.

My Review of The Hunting Party

I watched The Hunting Party yesterday, a western classic from 1971. This movie was filled with suspense and it had a great story line. The Hunting Party is about two hunting parties, but it's much deeper than that. The leader of the "good" Hunting Party, Brandt Ruger, wife gets kidnapped. She's kidnapped by a ruthless outlaw, going by the name of, Frank Calder, played by Oliver Reed.

Frank has a Hunting Party of his own that is out to get money from any county they can find. Frank and the "bad" Hunting Party roll into Ruger County, named after Brandt Ruger, played by Gene Hackman. And after that they kidnap Ruger's wife, Melissa, played by Candice Bergen. Now Ruger is out with a Hunting Party and he has no knowledge until the next day that his wife has been kidnapped. But when he is informed, this movie takes a turn for the worst. Think you should see The Hunting Party?

Under The Radar, But Must See

Last night Pop and I saw The International. The International is a great movie starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. The movie centers around a bank's involvement in an international arms dealing group. I think the movie is a must see just because of the financial situation around the world. There are a couple of key scenes/key quotes that discuss events similar to today's. These key scenes/key quotes may give the average person a better understanding of the economic crisis and bank crisis. The movie gives insight into the life of a international agents trying to rid the world of a soon to be crisis. I highly recommend this movie, in fact I gave it 3.5 stars. And those action hunters will be satisfied as well. The International is one of those under the radar, must see movies, so see it before it leaves.

Just Watched Cooley High

Cooley High is a great movie. I forgot how much I really liked Cooley High. That movie is actually in my top 15, almost making it's way into my Top 10. Cooley High has a great story and makes you feel every single part of the movie. Since the first time I saw Cooley High I always liked Glynn Turman, who played Preach in Cooley High. Preach and Cochise are my favorite characters. They act really well in Cooley High. If you haven't seen Cooley High, you should see it now.

Saw No Country For Old Men Again Today, Still Impresses Me

I just saw No Country For Old Men today. I'm still impressed, since the first day I saw it in the movie theater with my family. This is one of the best movies of the past 5 years. The Coen brothers did a great job. Its lack of music shows the beauty in the movie and Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, is such a great sinister character. Along with Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, who complete this outstanding cast. No Country For Old Men, (along with my father), helped inspire me to work on a new story/script today. Also, this movie was shot and written very well, using less words in certain scenes where most directors may have done otherwise. Now that I think about it, No Country For Old Men is the best movie in the last 5 years. I really understand why this movie won best picture a couple years ago because No Country For Old Men earned it.